Metal thin-film temperature sensor embedded in heat-sink for CPV cells characterization

Abstract

The efficiency of a photovoltaic cell is dependent on its temperature, for this reason an accurate measurement of this parameter is important to fully characterize the device and to optimize its performance. For CPV applications a significant heat flux is needed to remove excess heat from the cell towards a heat sink, making it difficult to derive the cell temperature. In fact, measurements performed directly between the cell and the heat-sink, by use of commercial bulk sensors, would produce a significant disturbance in the heat flow; on the other hand, a measurement performed out of the cell / heat sink axis would be subject to large uncertainties, due to the high radial temperature gradient. We approached the problem of accurate temperature monitoring of PV cells by fabricating a metal thin-film thermometer directly on the heat sink. The measure is thus very accurate while the sensor thinness ensures minimal disturbance to the heat flow.